Why Should I Choose a WordPress Website

Whether you’re just starting out or updating your website an important decision needs to be made. What type of website best suits my needs? You’ve probably heard about WordPress. It’s kind of hard not to since it’s powering 75 million websites today. WordPress is used for small blogs up to large corporations such as Best Buy, Xerox, and Fortune. But, “why should I use it” you might be asking. We set out to answer that question from a business owner’s point of view.

Accessibility – WordPress uses a Content Management System (CMS) which basically means you have access to your website content. Using any internet browser you can login, make changes, update copy, add images, pages, and write blog posts. This is one of the most appealing things about WordPress. When a small change is required to your website you don’t have to call a web developer – you can do it yourself!

Even if you don’t want to learn WordPress or make your own changes, there’s still many benefits to having this type of site so read on.

It’s Common – This doesn’t sound appealing say, when you’re picking out a new tattoo, but in software it’s comforting. WordPress is “open source” and always has been, so there’s a good deal of history in it’s use. And, since approximately 25% of all new websites published today use WordPress there’s a lot of helpful info out there. There’s free tutorials all over Youtube and more than enough articles, forums, and blogs to help you. WordPress.org is a wealth of knowledge and there’s plenty of pros in the forums that will help you for free!

It’s Portable – Yes, it’s free to use and set-up but, you still need a database and server. Therefore, most businesses hire a website company to set the site up for them. Many businesses want to focus on doing what they do and aren’t interested in maintaining their site so they outsource. When they feel like they aren’t getting good service there are plenty of website companies that would be happy to have their business. Any websitecompany worth their salt handles WordPress. It’s easy to move a WordPress website and that’s a big benefit for it’s owner.

It’s Versatile – WordPress can be used for a variety of purposes such as a blog, forum, photo gallery, videos, music, newsletters and an eCommerce store. It can handle anything from small to very large feature-rich websites, multi-site, and more.

In addition, there are tons of “plugins” (small software additions), that add functions and features to your website and most are free. For instance, there are free plugins to promote, enhance, and measure your website’s Search Engine Optimization.

WordPress offers “off the shelf” flexibility that used to require custom development.

Good Lifespan – We can’t see into the future but, we know the past. According to historical trends from W3Techs.com, our hunch is that WordPress is looking good well into 2017. WordPress has helped extend the life of a website by making changes easy enough to adapt with the times. For example, when wide-format was the trend, simple CSS code changes could be used to make an existing website wider.

WordPress has helped extend the life of a website by making changes easy enough to adapt with the times. For example, when wide-format was the rage, simple CSS code changes could be used to make an existing website wider (too bad clothes don’t do this).

And even when it’s outdated – it’s not dead. We did a website for a company nearly 6 years ago, and now it finally needs an update.However, it’s not a re-do or start-all-over-again deal. It needs a new theme and that needs to be set up. But, all of the pictures, pages, blog posts, and files are still there. They don’t need to be organized, sorted, and uploaded all over again – everything that was in the original site is ready for the new one. This, in no doubt, will save you money.

Many articles oversimplify how easy WordPress is to use (and we’ve made this mistake too). The interface in the basic free themes that come with WordPress are easy to use. However, when you add a professional theme, eventually you’ll need to know at least a little HTML and possibly, CSS too. For the owner, it either takes a long learning curve or the help of a website company.

Conclusion – The convenience of making changes to your own website and versatility are good enough reasons to choose WordPress. Add in tons of free features, portability, access to support, and potential longevity, and you’ve got a rock-solid platform through 2017.